While summer school may not seem like the most exciting way to spend four months of a wonderful break from papers, midterms, finals and the dreaded group projects, Vancouver TheatreSports regular Allen Morrison is teaching a 400-level improv class for six weeks.
With room for only 16 students, Morrison’s THTR 440 looks to be an intensive, hands on, yet hilarious course.
“My goal is to make class fun,” said Morrison on how his students will be assessed. “We should be making each other laugh all class long.”
After completing his BFA in Acting at UBC, Morrison has found, from a professional point of view, that his skills in improvisation are useful in all areas of his life. “There were just so many instances where improv would have been a really useful tool,” he said. “I found myself gravitating more and more to learning how to use these skills.”
A key concept of acting is making the audience believe that everything is happening for the first time. This, Morrison noted, was one of the main attractions of improv. “Improv is literally that -- you are going through these things for the first time, at the same time as the audience. I think it relates to everything -- being able to speak in public, interact with people you meet -- you’re constantly improvising."
Morrison’s course will draw upon formal acting and script-writing techniques as well as teaching his students the importance of confidence when performing, or, as seasoned improvisers would say, “playing.”
“In improv, we say ‘are you going to play tonight, who’s playing tonight?'” said Morrison. “The term is play, and that alone suggests a much more fun loving, all-embracing and supportive environment. That’s just how I want to approach it.”
Although improv is usually associated with the quick-wittedness of its participants, Morrison is keen to emphasize the focus on the relationships built within scenes. “You learn to focus on being specific and reacting emotionally, training your instincts to focus on those things,” he said. “Then the scene will just unfold.”
The prospect of an assessed course in improvisation could definitely seem daunting. The six-week course will involve two performances, but Morrison is particularly focused on students' progress in the course.
“Improv, it’s like anything, it’s like learning the guitar,” he said on whether special talents or comedic confidence are necessary components for success in the course. “There are some people who are always going to naturally be better, but anybody can learn to play, and to play competently.”
For anybody who has ever attended any improv show -- on campus, in a bar, on the street -- an awareness of the spontaneity of the performers is one of the most enjoyable aspects of a show.
“The audience really delights in seeing the struggles,” said Morrison. “Ultimately, this makes the performance succeed. The best improvisers are the ones who are fearless, the ones who aren’t afraid to make a mistake.”
Morrison teaches two main areas of improv performance; short form, which takes its role in a game-like format, and long form, which can be scenes between 10 and 30 minutes long.
Morrison was quick to emphasize that his students’ accomplishments in the comedic world will not be the only form of assessment. “You don’t have to be the best improviser, at the end of the day,” he said. “If you’re taking risks, if you’re jumping into the exercises, if you’re giving it your all, you are improving, and that will be recognized.”
The course only has 16 spaces available, and begins on May 11.
“Improvisation is an art form,” said Morrison. “It’s an art form that rewards you for making choices and rewards you for being open to your impulses and being fearless. I think that’s pretty powerful.”